Runaway
by sjaraven
Summary: When a 14 year old Melinda Wyatt runs away from home how does her family cope, and what adventures does she get up to. Chapter 5 added. ( Please read and review)
1. Chapter 1

Title: **Runaway**

Author's Note: This is my first Charmed fan-fic so I would appreciate anything you had to say. Please review this story and let me know what you think, as then I will know whether to continue posting this story or not. The first chapter is very short, but the next will be longer, I promise. 

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Charmed.  

Rating: PG. (This rating may change as I am in the process of writing it.)  
  
Summary: When a fourteen year old Melinda runs away from home, how does her family cope and what adventures does she get up to.

  _Dear diary,_

_                    It's funny how you can be surrounded by people but feel all alone. _

_  That's how I've felt my whole life, like I didn't fit in. _

_  It's understandable when you consider the fact that everyone in my family has magical powers except for me. I can't help but feel left out, and lately the feelings have gotten bigger. _

_  Its not that I don't love my family, because I do, its just that every time they fight a demon or use their powers I'm reminded of the fact that I don't belong. I have no one to turn to, no one who can understand what I'm going through. I can't talk to my parents, especially my mother. She's never known how to deal with me not having any magic. I'm not saying that she doesn't love me as much, because she does, its just that when I was younger she used to push me, as if by trying hard enough I would discover some magical gift I had. I've always resented her for that, which is probably why she and I have never been very close. _

_  In fact I'm not close to anyone. That's not to say that I don't have any friends because I do, just nobody that I'm close to, that I trust. _

_  Lately I've been filled with this feeling that there's somewhere I need to be, and that if I don't hurry up and go there I'm going to miss it. _

_  Everyday I find it harder and harder to cope with the feelings I have and after the fight I had with mum tonight I've finally come to a decision. _

_  I just hope that it's the right one._

  Closing her diary, and placing it in her bag, Melinda Halliwell-Wyatt stared around the room she had called home all her life, and sighed. She knew that what she was doing needed to be done but that didn't make it any easier for her. She felt familiar feelings of fear and pain rise up inside her, but she refused to let herself think about it because she knew that if she did she would chicken out, and she couldn't do that. Not now she had come so far.

  Melinda glanced at the letter she held in her hand one last time before placing it on her bed.

  Taking one last look around her room, Melinda grabbed her back pack, which was loaded with some clothes, food, money and her most prized possessions, and turned of the light. She closed her door quietly as she exited her room and then made her way towards the stairs. Her parents would be getting up soon, and she wanted to be long gone before they noticed she was missing. 

   She hesitated as she reached the front door of the manor and after taking one last look at the place which had been her home for almost 15 years, she turned the handle on the front door and left, closing the door gently behind her. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Here's the second chapter of my story, I hope you like it. The next chapter should have some action in it, and hopefully I can get that up soon. Thanks for the reviews.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Charmed.**

**Background Info: Piper and Leo live in the manor with their two children, 14 year old Melinda (nearly 15) and 10 year old Peter.**

**                          Phoebe and Cole are married and have one daughter, 12 year old Rebecca. They live down the street from the manor. (Cole never had his                                                     powers stripped, and so he never became the source, so he's still a half-demon.)**

**                          Paige has one son, 8 year old Martin. Martin's father was a mortal who died and they live with Phoebe and Cole. (You don't really need to know what the kids powers are at the moment, you'll find out later in the story.)**

  Piper groaned to herself as the loud buzzing of her alarm clock woke her up. She was still half asleep and had to struggle blindly for a few moments before she was able to turn it of. Leo had been called away on some whitelighter business the night before and had not yet returned. 

  After lying still for a few moments, she finally found the strength to get up, and slowly made her way to the bathroom. 

  When she got back to her room, she quickly got dressed and then headed downstairs to start getting ready for the day. 

  After making herself some coffee and glancing through the morning newspaper, Piper headed upstairs to wake up her children for school. She reached her 10 year old sons room first and entered the room.

  "Peter. It's time to wake up." Piper called as she gently shook him. When he opened his eyes, Piper smiled and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I'll have your egg and toast ready in 10 minutes. Don't be late."

  After making sure that he was getting up, Piper headed out of his room and to Melinda's room which was at the end of the hallway.

  "Melinda honey, it's time to get up." Piper called through the door as she knocked. She waited a few moments and when there was no reply she entered the room. "Melinda, are you awake."

  Piper halted halfway through the door, confused to find the room empty. She took a few more steps into the room and glanced around. 

  The bed didn't look like it had been slept in, and as Piper examined the room closely she saw that a few of Melinda's things were missing. Her eyes finally returned to the bed and it was only then that she noticed the folded note on the bed.

  It took a moment for the note to register in her mind and when it did, Piper fearfully reached out and took it. She gently lowered herself onto the bed as she began to read.

_Dear mum and dad,_

_   By now you must know that I've left.   _

_  I know it will be hard for you to understand but this is something that I have to do. I need time to figure out who I am and find a place where I feel I belong and while I have no clue where that is I do know that it's not here in San Francisco, with you. _

_   I don't know where I'm going, but I don't want you to worry. _

_  Take care and know that I love you all._

_  Melinda_

  Tears fell from Pipers eyes as she finished reading the note. She couldn't think, the only thought running through her head was that her baby girl was gone.

  Minutes passed as Piper struggled to comprehend what she had read, finally she managed to stop crying long enough to call Leo.

  Leo orbed in quickly and immediately went to comfort his wife.

  "Piper, what's wrong?" Leo asked as he hugged his wife close to him. 

  Instead of answering, Piper just handed him the note. As he read it he felt his eyes tear up, threatening to fall.

  "You can sense her, right? You can find and bring my baby home?" Piper asked desperately as she clung to her husband. 

  "She's not a witch Piper. You know I can't sense her." Leo replied sadly. Right now he hated the limitation of his powers. It felt so unfair that he couldn't use them to find his daughter. His flesh and blood.

  Piper broke down in tears again as Leo held her, both taking comfort in each others arms.

* * *

_  So I've finally left the manor._

_   It was easier to do than I expected, and I wonder now why I didn't leave sooner. _

_  I know I should be feeling sad or regretful but I'm not. _

  Melinda stopped writing for a moment and stared out the window of the coach she was on and watched the scenery fly by. After a moment she took a firmer hold on her pen and, tearing her eyes away from the scenery, began to write.

  _I'm not saying that I don't miss my family, because I do, even if I did see them just a few hours ago. But I can't help feeling the tinge of excitement that I've felt since I left. _

_  I'm more sure now  then ever  that I've done the right thing, by leaving, and I know that somewhere out there I'll hopefully find what I'm looking for._

_  A place to belong._

  Melinda stopped writing and closed her diary, returning her eyes to the window and the passing scenery, thinking of where she was headed.

  When she had gotten to the coach station she had brought a ticket on the first coach that was leaving, which happened to be heading for New York. She'd always wanted to go there, but had never had the opportunity before now. 

  The journey was a long one and she knew that she should try and get some rest but she couldn't stop thinking about what she had done.

  She had left the manor, her home. She had left her family, her parents, everything she had ever known, and she had to admit that it scared her. But Melinda knew that she couldn't go back now. She had come so far, and she didn't want it all to be for nothing.

  Tiredly, Melinda carefully put her diary back in her bag. 

  She had never had anyone that she could talk to throughout her life about her thoughts and feelings. Her parents and family could never understand, and so she had started keeping a diary. 

  Into it she had put down all her thoughts, fears and feeling's for the past five years. It was through her diary that she was able to understand the feelings of loneliness that she had felt her whole life, and until recently it had helped her to deal with them. Sometimes it felt like her diary was an extension of herself and Melinda took great care of it. 

  She had gone through several diaries in the past five years, all of which she had tucked away in her bag. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving them behind, so she had packed them. 

  Closing her eyes, Melinda willed sleep to come, hoping that after a few hours sleep she would start to feel rested and better able to handle what she knew she would have to deal with later.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Notes: I know I said there would be action in this chapter but it turned out longer then I intended, so I had to leave the fighting for the next chapter, which will be up during the week if I have time to proof read it. Thanks for the reviews, Keep them coming. (Sorry for the lack of Melinda in this chapter, but I wanted to show how Piper and Leo were reacting to Melinda running away. She will be in the next one, however.)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Charmed.**

  Leo orbed into the manor, and looked around. It was late, past ten, and Leo had just come back from visiting one of his charges. 

  Since Melinda had run away, less than a week ago, Leo had been spending as much time as he could on the job. He hated staying at home, with nothing to do but feel useless. 

  Piper had been doing the complete opposite, refusing to leave the house in case Melinda called, spending most of the day in her room.

  "Hey Leo." A voice said from behind Leo making him turn.

  "Oh hey Phoebe." Leo replied tiredly. For the past week, Phoebe and Paige had been helping out, at the house and P3. Piper hadn't been able to do anything since Melinda had run away, so Paige and Phoebe had been doing the cooking and taking care of Peter.

  "Peters in bed and Piper's upstairs." Phoebe said. "Daryl called earlier, said there was nothing new."

  Leo nodded his head.

  "I was just about to go home. There's some soup left over in the kitchen if you're hungry." Phoebe said as she grabbed her coat. "I've got work tomorrow but Paige said she'd stop by and take Peter to school."

  Leo nodded again, unable to talk. Realizing that Leo wanted to be alone, Phoebe gave him a quick hug before leaving.

  Slowly Leo made his way upstairs, stopping outside his son's room to make sure he was sleeping, and then moving down the hall to his and Piper's room. He entered the room to find Piper staring out the window, silent tears running down her face. Without saying a word Leo moved towards Piper and wrapped his arms around her. Piper rested her head on her husbands shoulder and they stood in silence for several minutes.

  "This is all my fault." Piper spoke suddenly, surprising Leo. "If I hadn't of been so hard on her that night, she never would of left."

  "Honey, it wasn't your fault." Leo spoke, as he hugged his wife closer to him.

  "How can you say that? Of course it's my fault." Piper cried out as she pulled away from Leo, tears streaming down her face. "I'm her mother; I'm supposed to know how she's feeling. I should have seen how unhappy she was, but I didn't. What kind of a mother am I that I can't even see when my baby's hurting."

  "Piper, you can't blame yourself. We all made mistakes along the way." Leo said. He hated seeing Piper like this, blaming herself for Melinda running away. "Every parent does."

  "Yeah well every parent doesn't drive her child away." Piper said in a soft voice remembering the fight she had had with Melinda the night before she left.

* * * FLASHBACK

  A Demon had attacked the manor early in the afternoon, while the family had been hanging out in the living room. Piper had ordered Melinda to go upstairs while she and Peter took care of the demon. The demon was immune to Piper's powers and quickly knocked Peter out, leaving Piper to take out the demon. She had just been knocked to the floor, and the demon was preparing to throw a fire ball at her when Melinda appeared out of nowhere. She attacked the demon with some martial arts moves, dodging a fireball, before stabbing the demon in the heart, killing him.

  "What the hell did you think you were doing?" Piper had screamed at her daughter later that day after Leo had healed Peter.

  "I was trying to help." Melinda had said.

  "You could have gotten yourself killed." Piper said angrily as she paced in front of her daughter. "How many times do I have to remind you? You're not a witch Melinda; you don't have any powers to protect yourself with."

  "If I hadn't of jumped in when I did, that demon would have killed you." Melinda had said in disbelief.

  "I can take care of myself." Piper had said. "You on the other hand can't."

  "Hey, I took care of the demon, didn't I?" Melinda shot back angrily.

  "He could easily have killed you." Piper screamed, loosing her temper. "You're just a mortal, Melinda. A plain old mortal."

  "You can't tell me what to do." Melinda had spoke in a low voice as she glared at her mother.

  "I'm your mother, Melinda," Piper had said. "And if I tell you to do something you'll do it."

  "You're not my mother." Melinda said with sneer. "You haven't been a mother to me in a long time."

  Before Piper could think, she had thrust out her hand and slapped Melinda on the face.

  Piper had never before slapped her children, and she immediately regretted it, putting her hand over her mouth in surprise.

  Melinda had stared at her mother in shock for a few moments, rubbing her cheek before running upstairs.

  Piper had watched her go, too shocked to even try and stop her, tears running down her face.

* * * END OF FLASHBACK

    Leo reached out for Piper but she backed away from him shaking her head.

  "This is all my fault. If I wasn't such a bad mother, Melinda never would have run away." Piper said.

  "You are not a bad mother, Piper." Leo said. "You're a great mother. Look at Peter, he loves you, and I know that no matter what Melinda is feeling right now, she loves you to."

  Leo reached out for Piper again and this time she didn't back away.

  "Do you think she's okay?" Piper asked in a small voice as she once again rested her head on Leo's shoulder.

  "I'm sure she's fine." Leo said trying to hide the doubt he felt. "She's strong, Piper. She can look after herself."

  Piper nodded her head, as she wrapped her arms around Leo, taking comfort in his presence.

  "We'll find her, Piper." Leo whispered softly. "I promise you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Notes: First I'd like to thank the people who have been reviewing this story. I know I said I'd try to get this chapter up during the week but I didn't have time. The next chapter will definitely be up by next weekend. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and as always please review.**

    _So it's been a week since I left the manor. I've been tempted to call several times, but I know I can't. If I do it could make it easier to find me, and I won't go back._

_  When I first arrived, I was worried about finding a place to stay. I mean it's not like I'm old enough or have the money to rent a place, so the first few nights I spent sleeping in an alley. Then two days ago I found this place. It's an old abandoned shop, tucked away at the end of this alley. I found it by chance, and apart from the smell I like it._

_  I've already spent half the money that I came here with and I know I'm going to have to think of a way to come up with some more money, but it's not like I'm old enough to get a job._

_  Sometimes I wonder if I should have thought this whole running away thing through more before I decided to leave, but the truth is that I can't imagine going back to the manor. _

_  For the first time in my life I'm free._

  Melinda stopped writing and quickly placed her diary back into her bag. 

  The shop she was staying in was quite small. There had obviously been a fire in the place, as the shop still retained the smell of burnt wood. The shop was made up of a small front room which was completely wrecked, and a larger back room, the only entrance to which was a hole in the wall that was carefully hidden behind some boxes. 

  The last thing Melinda wanted was some uninvited guests. 

  The shop was located in the bad part of the city, so there were a lot of reasons for Melinda to be careful with hiding the entrance to her place.

  Checking the time on her watch, Melinda noted that it was past 11. 

  She knew she should try and get some sleep but she was too restless. 

  Instead, after thinking it over she grabbed her brown jacket from where she had dumped it on the floor and put it on. She quickly hid her bag behind the burnt remains of a table, and then Melinda headed to the hole in the wall and ducked through it. After recovering the hole Melinda headed out of the shop and down the alley. 

  She hesitated as she reached the end of the alley and only after she was sure that no one was around did she leave the alley and move onto the street. 

  Melinda walked for several blocks with no destination in mind, enjoying the feel of the cold night air. She saw several other people hanging around, most of them drunk, but she ignored them. 

  Melinda had just started to head back to her place when she heard someone scream in fear, making her stop. 

  She hesitated a moment wondering if she should do anything, when the scream came again. Throwing caution to the wind Melinda raced down the street in the direction the cry had come to. 

  She reached the entrance to an alley and stopped suddenly almost causing herself to loose her balance.

  A man lay unconscious on the floor while a woman was backed up into the wall of the alley, blood flowing from a wound on her shoulder. In front of the woman stood a man, and it was him that had made Melinda stop suddenly, because in his hand he held a ball of energy. 

  Melinda knew he was a demon and that she should leave the ally before he saw her, after all she had no powers to stop him with and she would likely just get herself killed but her conscious stopped her. Leaving now would mean leaving that woman to die and Melinda couldn't do that. 

  So with grim determination Melinda ran down the ally towards the demon. He was so engrossed in taunting the woman that he didn't hear Melinda approach until it was too late and Melinda flung herself at him, knocking them both to the floor. 

  The energy ball from his hand flew of to impact the wall several feet away giving of a small explosion and leaving a scorch mark. This caused enough distraction for the young woman to stumble to the body of the man a few feet away, who was just starting to come around, and start to drag him down the ally, leaving Melinda to face the demon alone.

  Before the demon could move Melinda was on her feet and glancing around the ally floor for a weapon that she could use. She wished that she had her athame with her, she could have finished the demon of quickly, but she had foolishly left it in her bag. 

  Melinda's roving eyes fell on a metal pipe about as long as her arm lying on the ground a few feet away, but before she could grab it the demon was back on his feet.

  "That was a mistake little girl." The demon snarled as he lunged at her.

  Melinda sidestepped him at the last minute and delivered a kick to his side, making him stumble. He regained his balance quickly and before Melinda could react he managed to get a hold of her arm. He twisted it painfully until it snapped causing Melinda to cry out in pain. 

  The demon was strong and Melinda knew that she had to get him to let down his guard if she had any hope of surviving this fight. She pushed aside the pain she was feeling from her broken arm and started to struggle weakly against the demons grip on her arm, making soft whimpering sounds. She knew it had worked the moment his grip slackened on her arm and Melinda took her chance. She drove the elbow of her free arm into the demons chest as hard as she could. He released her arm completely as he bent over trying to catch his breath. 

  Melinda quickly made a grab for the pipe she had seen earlier on the ally floor, and after picking it up with her good arm she swung it with all her might at the demons head. The force of the blow sent the demon stumbling backwards. She drew back the pipe preparing for another hit when a shining blue light coming from the demon distracted her. 

  It was an energy ball; the demon had formed another energy ball in his hand. 

  Before Melinda could react the demon flung the energy ball at her. The force of the blow sent Melinda flying backwards, through the air, to connect hard with the ally wall. Pain flew through her body as she crumpled to the floor, blood flowing from a cut on her forehead, while her chest was burnt and bleeding from where the energy ball had hit her. Melinda tried to get up, but all she managed to do was lift her head up slightly. 

  As she gasped for breath and struggled to stay conscious her eyes fell upon the demon who was making his way towards her, another energy ball in hand. 

  Just before Melinda lost consciousness the demon gave of a scream as a knife impacted him from behind, the sharp point protruding from his chest. He burst into flames, vanquished, as the blackness surrounded her and everything faded away.

* * *

  Piper sat up in bed, gasping for breath as tears flew down her cheek. Leo sat up a moment later, turning on the bedside lamp and wrapping his arms around Piper, in comfort.

  "Honey, are you alright?" Leo asked as he started to rub her back gently in an effort to calm her down. "Did you have a bad dream?"

  "It's Melinda." Piper said in between sobs. "She's dead. I know she is."

  "Honey it was just a dream." Leo said trying to reassure Piper.

  "No it wasn't." Piper said as she pushed Leo away from her, and rose from the bed. "She's dead. I felt it. My baby's dead."

  Piper crumpled to the floor beside the bed, wrapping her arms around her legs in the fetal position as she cried. She knew she was right. She couldn't explain how she knew it, but somehow she knew that Melinda had died. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Charmed.**

**Author's Notes: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, the next chapter will be longer. Thanks for reviewing my story so far and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. As always please review, as I would love to know what people think of the story so far.**

  The first thing that Melinda became aware of as she fought to fully awaken was the pain. Her whole body hurt especially her chest and arm. 

  Then there was the heat. 

  Melinda felt like she was on fire, she was so hot. She tried to move but found herself too weak to do anything then move her head slightly. Something cool was placed on her forehead, but Melinda didn't have the strength to open her eyes to see what it was. 

  A voice began to speak to her, male, and although she couldn't make out the words, the tone of the person's voice had a calming effect on Melinda. She tried to open her mouth to speak but found it hard to breath. 

  A couth tore from her throat, sending pain shooting through her chest as she struggled to stop. Strong hands helped her to sit up, rubbing her back soothingly until the coughing fit passed. 

  As her breathing slowed down, Melinda felt something placed up to her lips. The next thing she knew a foul tasting liquid was being forced down her throat. She tried to stop from swallowing it but she was too weak and couldn't put up much of a fight. 

  As the foul liquid stopped running down her throat, she felt something else being placed against her lips. Melinda gave an inward sigh as water entered her mouth, soothing her dry throat. 

  As the drink was slowly taken away, she felt herself being lightly placed back down on the bed. 

   Melinda was completely exhausted and the pain and intense heat she felt had not gone away. Through the pain she heard the voice talking again but this time it seemed further away. 

  The next thing she knew everything faded away, as Melinda lost consciousness.

* * *

  For several days Melinda drifted in and out of consciousness, delirious, her fever never letting up. 

  Every time she awoke she would be forced to drink the same foul tasting liquid as before, too weak to refuse. 

  The voice was always present when she regained consciousness soothing her, even though she was too ill to know what it was saying. Sometimes it would be joined by a second voice, female, but it was the other voice that calmed Melinda down and made her feel safe. 

  Sometimes the person would hold her hand in silence, other times he would talk to her, always making Melinda aware of his presence. Throughout this time she wasn't strong enough to talk or even open her eyes, so she took comfort in the fact that she was never alone. 

  After the third day her fever finally started to let up and Melinda began to sleep more peacefully for longer periods of time, slowly gaining strength.


End file.
